Early postoperative feeding after elective colorectal surgery is not a benefit unique to laparoscopy-assisted procedures.

Previous analyses of non-prospectively randomized trials have suggested that early oral postoperative feeding might be a benefit unique to laparoscopic surgery. However, some authors have indicated that early feeding can be tolerated by the majority of patients after elective open surgery. Aim: This prospective randomized study was undertaken to assess whether the time prior to oral intake of food after laparoscopy-assisted surgery is shorter than that after standard laparotomy. Methods: This trial included 40 patients who were divided randomly into two groups before operation. Group I included 20 patients (mean age, 52 years; range , 15 – 77 years) who underwent a laparoscopy-assisted colon or rectal procedure (LAP). Group II consisted of 20 patients (mean age, 56 years, range, 41 – 74 years) who underwent surgery with a standard midline incision (SMI). On the evening after surgery, patients were allowed clear liquids ab libitum. This regimen was continued until the first postoperative day at which time they could elect to start eating a regular diet. If a patient had two episodes of vomiting, a nasogastric tube was inserted. Results: Five laparoscopic procedures were converted to SMI because of adhesions (25%) and an equal number of patients was excluded from the group that was treated in the traditional manner. Therefore, only 30 patients were included in the analysis. There were no deaths in this trial. Complications appeared in four of the patients in the LAP group and in two of the patients in the SMI group (no significant difference). There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of the ability to tolerate the early oral intake of food, in the frequency of vomiting or in the incidence of insertion of a nasogastric tube. The time to the first bowel movement was 5.4 days in LAP and 5.5 days in SMI, and the difference was not significant. Conclusion: This study invalidates the claim by laparoscopic surgeons that earlier oral intake of food is tolerated by their patients than by patients who undergo standard procedures.